Jones Cottage
The following article that documents the history of the Jones Cottage and its restoration appeared in the 12 April 2021 issue of the Milton Renaissance Foundation Newsletter (Angela Daniel-Upchurch, Editor).
The work was undertaken by John Harbin Keener and Lena Caroline Scott Keener.
Not all the images referenced in the article are included here. However, they will be found online at:
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"The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry." Robert Byrnes
That certainly would seem to be the experience of F. B. Jones as it pertains to the cottage he built circa 1905 adjacent to the Episcopal Church (now The Woman's Club) on Academy Street. According to his daughter, Emily Jones Bradsher, her father determined to build a "house on the hill" to be a rental property. That plan seems not to have worked out exactly as he intended.
Today, well over one hundred years later, the house is still standing, but there is no record or recollection of it having ever been occupied by anyone outside his family. (I would welcome input to the contrary.)
At one time or another each of Mr. Jones' adult children lived there.
Eventually, his only surviving son, Clyde Ray Jones, and wife Minnie Mae Cannady Jones, bought the house as a family home from his father's estate in 1931, and lived there the rest of their lives. After Clyde's death in 1977, it was the home of his daughter Alice Jacqueline Jones Charette until her death in 2017.
My husband, John, and I purchased the house in early 2019 and have recently completed the restoration of this "house on the hill" which we are calling the "Jones Cottage."
I have always felt that the stories of the homes and businesses in towns like Milton are especially interesting because they are, to some degree, "family history made visible," forever linked to life stories of their early inhabitants. With that perspective, the history of the Jones Cottage is best understood through an account of F. B. Jones and his family, as reflected by public and family records, as well as oral history passed down through three generations.
The Family
F. B. Jones (left) is my maternal great-grandfather. His daughter, Emily, is my grandmother; and Emily's daughter, Jean Bradsher Scott, is my mother. Franklin Beauregard Jones (he is said to have given himself his middle name) was born in the raised cottage beside the Milton Baptist Church on July 5, 1860 to Thomas James Jones (1816-1865) and Margaret Anne Connally Jones (1826-1912), daughter of George O. and Polly Ball Connally.
Little is known of Thomas Jones's early life. He was born in Baltimore County, Maryland and came to North Carolina with his sister, Sarah Rebecca, a milliner. He was a tinsmith in Milton, and his business, The Tin Shop, was located behind Merchant Row adjacent to the W. A. McCain Livery Stable lot. According to the Milton Chronicle, August 8, 1847, at one time his tinsmith shop was located in the Tavern (Thomas Day House).
Frank's parents, Thomas and Margaret, were married at Connally Church in March 1845. She is buried at Cedars Cemetery but there is uncertainty about Thomas's burial place. My mother recalls being told that he is buried at an old Connally family cemetery on Dotmond Road near Milton.
Frank was only five years old when his father died at age 48, leaving his widowed mother to raise the eight living children.
From a young age, Frank worked to help his mother support the family, at one point earning 25 cents per week for sweeping the floors of the saloon in Milton. Later, as a young man, he moved to Leaksville, N.C. (present-day Eden) where he opened a successful dry goods store and met his future wife, Ella Clyde Ray (1866-1954), daughter of James Bonaparte Ray, Jr. and Annie Elizabeth Morehead Bullard Ray (photograph left). He and Ella married in Leaksville on February 18, 1885 at her parents' home. With his aging mother needing care, Frank along with Ella returned to Milton and "roomed and boarded" at the Farley House on Broad Street. He bought Mr. Bowers' store on Merchant's Row (now occupied by Carolina Vintage Antiques) and also bought the lot adjacent to it and built the store which today is Aunt Millie's Antiques. In these side-by-side stores, he opened F. B. Jones General Merchandise that sold "everything from dry goods to caskets" which he successfully operated until his death.
Interestingly, sometime around 1911, Frank played another role in Milton's business community. In "The History of Banking in Caswell County, North Carolina," by Richmond Stanfield Frederick, Jr., 10 October 2009. Mr. Frederick notes that in the 1911 Annual Report of the Bank of Caswell in Milton, F. B. Jones was listed as president. It is not clear as to the circumstances surrounding his assuming that role or his tenure in that position. See: Caswell County Banking History
Frank and Ella eventually bought the Farley house where they had boarded. (This house is usually known as the Jones House or Jones-Moorefield House on Broad Street, also currently in restoration.) All six of their children were born in that home, and the three children who survived were raised there:
Annie Connally (1887-1951) m. Judge Marcus C. Winstead
Clarence Ray (1889-1991) died at age 2 years
Clyde Ray (1891-1977) m. Minnie Mae Cannady
Mary Emily (1895-1992) m. Jacob T. Bradsher
Lizzie Ray (1897) died at age 3 months
Franklin Beauregard, Jr. (1899-1903) died at age 3 years
Both Frank and Ella lived the rest of their lives at the home on Broad Street and died there, he in April 1931, and she in September 1954. Both are buried at Cedars Cemetery.
The Jones Cottage deeds trace an interesting history of early ownership of the original large tract on which the cottage is located. The names on these old documents are familiar to those who know the history of Milton. This home's lot was the last parcel sold of the original large tract that runs south on Academy Street from the corner of Broad to an old alley. Today three structures stand on that land: the Woman's Club, the Jones Cottage, and the house built by Dr. Hurdle in the late 1800's.
In 1886 H. C. and Eliza Hatcher sold the entire tract to W. M. and Kate Watkins. One year later in 1887, Mr. and Mrs. Watkins sold the southernmost parcel that bordered the alley to Dr. James Hurdle and his wife, Julia, who built the existing house.
In 1890, Mr. and Mrs. Watkins sold the rest of the land to Dr. J. C. Walton who first sold a lot on the corner of Broad and Academy to the Episcopal Church in 1891.
In August 1905, Frank Jones bought from Dr. Walton the remaining L-shaped parcel that surrounded the Episcopal Church and bordered both Academy and Broad Streets. It was on that lot that he built the proposed rental house.
According to my grandmother, her father tore down a large existing house on the lot and used many of the materials to build the smaller house that stands there today, the Jones Cottage.
The Restoration
During the recent restoration project, the NC State Historic Preservation Office noted in their assessment that certain materials and elements such as the beaded exterior siding, some of the door and window facings, and the random sized wainscot boards are from the1800s. The mantles in the two front rooms are likely from the older structure as well. The mismatched styles of trim, doors, hinges, door knobs, locks, and the assortment of boards which covered the original kitchen walls indicate that whatever materials were available were put to use.
The cottage's L-shape, typical of the Vernacular Victorian style, is plain in construction, with the decorative front porch balusters being the only embellishment.
In our restoration, the original double front doors and the glass transom and sidelights were preserved and repaired and give the simple house a handsome exterior and a bright, light-filled center front foyer.
To the right of the foyer was the living room and to the left were three rooms running front to back: a front and middle bedroom, and a kitchen at the rear. In the restoration, we converted the middle bedroom into two full bathrooms, and the original kitchen into what is now the second bedroom.
A rear foyer door opened to a long narrow exterior porch that extended to the kitchen and the back of the house. In the late 1930s or early 1940s this back porch was enclosed and a bathroom was added. Today that enclosed porch has been expanded and converted into a kitchen and family room.
John and I have found it very gratifying to rescue this old house. My mother - and probably many of you - never thought she would see the day! The cottage today is both a restoration and renovation. With the guidance of the Historic Preservation Office, we have attempted to preserve and restore the historic integrity of the house, maintain its original exterior style, and preserve the structure's historic elements while making updates and adding modern features that will appeal to future Miltonians.
Please allow us to take the liberty of thanking our good neighbors on Academy Street for their patience, encouragement, compliments and good humor throughout this project. -Carolee Keener
Photographs
After the restoration, the entrance and foyer may be the home's best feature.
This mantle was relocated to another room in order to install a bath.
Perhaps the most challenging space.
The relocated mantle in the challenging space.
Exterior siding provides visual interest to the now interior wall.
View through sitting area to kitchen
Another before photo.
Close-up of newly painted mantle features
The lovely restored Jones Cottage all fixed up in time for Christmas 2020.
Thank you, John & Carolee Scott Keener, for saving and restoring The Jones Cottage for Milton.
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